California
by MASH-Nut-4077
Summary: Bah... read it yourselves! And REVIEW! -Chapter 3 up
1. Default Chapter

**(A/N: Hello again, everybody... I seem to be having a SERIOUS writing block with my other story, Henry, so this is a new project I've begun...)**

California

"California here I come, right back where I started from..."

BJ mumbled halfheartedly. The guy beside him looked at him strangely, but then turned away, probably to stare at some gorgeous woman further down the aisle.

That's exactly what Hawkeye would have done.

He sighed and sank down into his seat, staring out the window as the city of Kimpo, and then all of Korea disappeared beneath him. It was just a feeling, but a very strong feeling, that BJ felt in his chest when he knew they were out over the ocean.

Hadn't Henry Blake, the first CO of the 4077th died when his plane crashed into the ocean?

Don't think about death. You've escaped death, stupid, think about Peg! And Erin! Think about what their faces will look like when you get home! The smiling face of a beautiful blonde-haired woman came into his mind, and she was holding a cute little girl in her arms. The child waved and yelled out "Daddy!" His eyes closed, BJ smiled to himself. Inside his head, though, he heard the inevitable whistling explosion of shells, and watched the two figures duck. In his mind he was running over to them. He bent down and rolled Peg over, only to find that she was dead, covered in blood and gashes with half of her face missing.

And Erin had never stood a chance.

The darling little two year old rolled limply from her mother's arms and landed on the bloodied ground. BJ knelt and sobbed, releasing a series of sounds like a wounded animal...

"AGH!"

The former Captain woke up and jolted forward.

"Hey pal, how long have I been sleeping?" He asked, rubbing his eyes while trying to get his breath and heart rates to go back to normal. "Bout an hour. Musta been some horrible dream you was havin'. Everythin' alright?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine."

"You dressed in greens. Army man?"

"Heh... not anymore. Until a day ago I was a Captain in the US Army, stationed at a M*A*S*H Unit near Pusan. Now I'm a Mill Valley doctor, and damn proud of it. More than I'd ever been before I got drafted."

BJ couldn't help but look around as the large man in the seat next to him started rambling about something. Every person with black hair caught his eye. Every loud, obnoxious laugh made his head flick to the side ever-so-slightly. Somebody cried "Bullseye! Haha!" BJ hoped he had misheard it as "Hawk-eye!" or "Bull-cookies!" but no such luck. A man with a thick Bostonian accent droned on in the back, but it was most certainly not Charles. The man was skinny and actually had _hair_, with thick glasses.

"Yeah, I been in the Marines nearly three years now. Good ta be goin' home, eh?"

"Mmhmm... good to be going home..."

**(A/N: Yay? Nay? More? Quit? Review!) **


	2. Chapter Two

(A/N: To all you people out there who've been wondering if this will turn out as a H/BJ slash... NO!!! I don't write that kinda stuff. ;) And this was just a little thing that had been haunting me at about 2 in the morning... when that happens, there usually isn't an identifiable plot to start with. Don't worry, it'll show up soon. Aaand... the Marine isn't really relevant.Thankee for all the reviews! I'm working on that next chapter of Henry.  
  
And Mrs. Wilberding... you can't spell. Perhaps you should just give up? Eee! *Ducks* Nuuu! I'd be out a review! :D)  
  
BJ's heart began to race faster and faster as the plane came in over the US. Some of the military men and women who were coming home for the first time in years began to cheer, and nobody made any attempt to quiet them. Gripping his bag tighter and tighter, BJ felt about ready to burst as, with a bump, the plane touched down. They all waited until the announcement was given to proceed from the plane in a calm manner. ...And then they did.  
  
The world spun around him. The airport was filled with people meeting one another, some suited men coming together in a businesslike manner, others as families that had been apart for the duration of the Korean War. It all went silent around him, and the joyous feeling left him in an instant.  
  
Peg was not there.  
  
His anxious eyes searched everywhere. Maybe she had died her hair? Changed her appearance somehow? No, she would have told him, so he could find her. But he should be able to recognize his own wife, even in a crowded airport full of people... right?  
  
But she wasn't there.  
  
Still watching, and tapping every woman on the shoulder who even resembled Peg in the slightest, BJ got his luggage, which consisted of very little, and hauled it outside with some difficulty. As he walked through the door, probably to aimlessly walk the parking lot in search of their car, he almost dropped his bags. It wasn't Peg, but the sight was still beautiful. It was California. Home. The rushing of the traffic on the streets, the sound of those annoying scavenging seagulls, the smell of the ocean and resturants cooking.   
  
After going in and out of the airport several more times, BJ did what felt right and hailed a Taxi. The drive was not long from Sacramento to Mill Valley, but it felt as long as the war. He had to driver drop him off at one of his favorite places to eat and paid with what he had, but walked right past and started down the street to his house. His mind was spinning with nervous thoughts. Had something happened to Peg? Or Erin? Where was his beautiful wife and his adorable little girl, who didn't even know him? The dream kept coming back to haunt him, and as his house came into view, he broke into a run, not even realizing that there were two cars in the driveway. It didn't matter.  
  
He stopped a moment on the steps, tears beginning to pour from his eyes as he looked around. Everything looked exactly as he remembered it last. BJ opened the front door quietly, hesitantly, not even caring to notice that it was unlocked. Choking back the hurricane of emotion, he took in the sights and scents of just the hallway. Toys scattered, a few pairs of ladies shoes, Peg's perfume, the smell of breakfast... But BJ stiffened, horrified, at the sound of voices.  
  
"Don't you think I should leave?"  
  
"No.. mm, you know I don't have to pick BJ up from the airport for another hour..."  
  
"Peg, when you came to me, I thought you just needed somebody to help you, you know, around the house, until BJ came back."  
  
"I did, but it's just been so long..."  
  
"I don't want to hurt BJ, he's my buddy!"  
  
"I don't want to hurt him either! He's my husband!"  
  
"Well... maybe a few more minutes..." 


	3. Chapter 3

BJ's mind was reeling. If only everything around him could stop spinning, maybe he could actually think straight... Or maybe the spinning was a good thing. Maybe the world would just spin itself away, and all of this could be a dream... He fell back against the wall, trying to think rationally. Maybe his ears had been messed up, like Father Mulcahy's, in the last shelling attack they had. 

As he fell against the wall, his slightly malnourished body, having lost many pounds over the course of two years, made barely a sound. Apparently Peg didn't hear it, nor her love affair, but one person in the house did.

Erin peeked cautiously into the hallway, towards the door, and saw BJ in his army suit. Something like recognition sparked in her eyes. BJ dropped to his knees, tears brimming in his eyes at the sight of his daughter, and he held out his arms shakily. She looked almost ready to walk into them, staring at BJ with a childish wonder, before she shrieked

"MOMMY!"

And it was all over. Peg came running into the hallway to find her husband, his face streaked with tears, still holding his arms out wide to receive his baby girl. Instead, Erin ran around Peg's legs and hid by her bathrobe. After all, it was only around nine in the morning. Another man followed her, whom BJ recognized at an instant. His name was Charlie, and he lived just down the street. He was a handyman of sorts, fixing anything from plumbing to electricity.

"BJ?!"

"PEG?!"

He finally seemed to have snapped out of it, and also snapped out of whatever was holding him back. Dropping his arms, he stood up and drew back to have a mighty punch at Charlie, but Peg grabbed his fist and he stopped immediately to keep from hitting her.

"BJ, what are you doing here? Your plane wasn't supposed to arrive for another hour!"

"Gee, now why would I have expected you to be _happy_ about me coming home from a goddamn war, actually _alive_?"

"Watch your mouth around my daughter! I mean..."

"She's my daughter too, you know, even though I missed half of her life to stand in blood and operate on kids who seemed her age! To sleep on a creaky cot, to drink martinis until I vomited just to get through the day, to put up with a ferrety man and a snob as roommates, to bear the nearly unbearable winters, the unbelieveably hot summers! How do you think I feel to wait on your every letter like it was a precious drop of water and I was stranded in the middle of a desert, and then come home to find you in the arms of another man? I was expecting the heartbreak of my daughter not knowing me. But I never, never expected this."

"Look, Beej, I'm real sorry..."

Charlie cut in, but BJ looked over Peg's shoulder, dishing out glares that could kill. 

"She needed someone to help out around the house while you were gone. I don't know how it went further, but I swear, nothing _really_ happened..."

"YOU THINK KISSING MY WIFE AND SPENDING THE NIGHT AT MY HOUSE DOING GOD KNOWS WHAT IS REALLY NOTHING?!"

Erin began to cry from behind her mother, and BJ automatically fell silent. "Erin, honey, I'm sorry... Please, come here..." But the little girl was fastened to the back of Peg's robe like a stamp to an envelope. The tears welled in BJ's eyes again and he grabbed his bags, turning and walking back out the door. He heard it open and close again a moment after, and was expecting Peg's voice, but he heard Charlie say

"BJ..."

In a moment of uncontained rage, BJ dropped the bag that was balanced in his right arm, whirled around, and planted the back of his fist right into the other man's face. There was a scream from the house, and BJ looked to find Peg at the window. Erin was gone, probably having been shooed off so she didn't have to witness anything. BJ picked up his discarded bag and started walking quickly down the road.


End file.
